RON. LAVALETTE: Incipient Pariah

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Although he’d never been
officially banned
from any of the many
downtown establishments
he frequented,
he increasingly found himself
isolated
at one end of the bar,
other patrons
choosing to congregate
at the other, even if
half of them had to stand
two-deep,
reaching through the crowd
for their beer.

Ron. Lavalette has been widely published in both print and pixel forms. His first chapbook, Fallen Away, is now available from all standard outlets, and a reasonable sample of his work can be found at EGGS OVER TOKYO.

TODD MERCER: Former Child Star

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Oh, I craved it constantly, then a sudden explosion.

The public was fascinated, fawning. I was inside a window of luminosity that broke the law of conservation. More joy flooded from me than I was stocked with.

A brief moment.

Then came the weight, far more than I ever dreamed.

Todd Mercer was nominated for Best of the Net in 2018. Recent work appears in The Magnolia Review, Praxis, and SOFTBLOW Journal.

PATRICK Mc LOUGHLIN: The Mind is an Endless Maze

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Walking the cows down the narrow road after milking, I felt protected by their company. The last light held enough reassurance.

While returning alone with the dusk pouring through the branches, the old ruin became the only presence, harbouring contrary spirits, and I ran.

Forty years later, I’m still running.

Patrick Mc Loughlin is an English Language Teacher in Ireland and dabbles in writing. He also dabbles in painting and music and someday hopes to do more than dabble. He lives in the west of Ireland where it’s hard to concentrate.

TPA: Everything is fine. You?

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

Mean as cancer when no one is looking
Smile, smile, smile otherwise
He walks the dog to feel anything
His unkindness pounds in her head as people look
Neighborhood trash receptors are emptied for the week
The dog poops twice on the walk
He carries both home; people are looking

TPA is currently living her literary dream of creating flash fiction from home in Atlanta, Georgia, where she studied writing at Oglethorpe University.

BOB THURBER: Dead Stonemason In A Mayonnaise Jar

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Every summer we haul grandpa’s ashes down to the beach and listen to the crashing surf.

The roar reminds us of grandpa’s grumbling groans after a long day’s work.

When the tide recedes, the shoreline resembles a long stretch of freshly poured cement, waiting to be troweled, skimmed perfectly smooth.

Bob Thurber is the author of “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel” and two collections of stories. A celebrated master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in 60 anthologies, received dozens of awards, and been used in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts where, though legally blind, he continues to write every day. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

BILL DIAMOND: In an Instant

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

Life is great. Health, mobility, liberty.

Then, an inadvertent moment. A slip and twisting tumble. The crash is sharp; the crack loud. Such a quick and simple thing.

But the scorching pain: deep, crippling, and endless.

Operations and rehab do little. Each move brings agony and depression.

Life is hell.

Bill Diamond writes in the Colorado Mountains. See more at bdiamondwriting.com

TIM BOITEAU: Plastic Garden

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I tell her amidst our constitutional in Plastic Garden.

She lowers herself onto the grass, studying its frozen, wind-blown artifice, then plants her hand into a spongy anthill.

As the mechanical carbuncles stream up her pale skin, bites evoking winces, she whispers to them, “Like me, like me, like me.”

Tim Boiteau lives and writes near Detroit with wife and son. Find him at @timboiteau.

JESSE BRADLEY: Campaign Stop: Orlando, FL

Amusing, Odd, Submissions, , , ,

The press pool asks Senator Minotaur why he won’t campaign outside of Florida anymore.

His campaign manager remembers the reporter in Montana who wandered off of a cliff, the reporter in Iowa whose stolen car doubled as his coffin, the reporter in Texas with a smile no stomach should make.

Jesse Bradley wrote this story.

CANDELA MARTINEZ: Uncaged Bird

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

She was crazy, but not like others

She had the madness of a woman who lives as if every day were Friday
She was the one who thought that betting on her was better than going to a casino
She was the one who had never regretted anything

She was.

Candela Martinez wrote this story.